Lemon Blueberry Whoopie Pies are soft, cakey sandwich cookies bursting with fresh blueberries, filled with a lemon cream cheese frosting. Spring in a cookie!
Looking for more whoopie pie recipes? Try my S’mores Whoopie Pies or even my Whoopie Pie Cake!
If there was ever a cookie that represented a season, these Lemon Blueberry Whoopie Pies would be Spring! Not only are they pretty, they’re soft, cakey lemon cookies loaded with sweet blueberries filled with sweet, lemon cream cheese frosting.
What Are Whoopie Pies?
Whoopie Pies are one of those desserts that can be classified as a cookie, a cake, or even a pie, hence the name. But, they’re kind of in a league of their own.
I’ve read that they originated with Amish ladies as a way to use extra cake batter. They’d put them in their husband’s lunchboxes and when they’d open them for lunch they’d be so excited they would exclaim, “whoopie!” I’m not so sure if that’s true, but it’s a fun, wholesome idea.
Traditionally they’re a chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling, but there are tons of variations including a few here on my site like my Cookie Dough Whoopie Pies, Funfetti Whoopie Pies, and Key Lime Pie Whoopie Pies!
Lemon and Blueberry Make The Perfect Combo!
Pairing lemon and blueberry is a match made in heaven. The tartness of the lemon with the fruity sweetness of blueberries works perfectly in so many desserts.
The cake or cookie part of these whoopie pies is exactly that…a cross between cake and cookie. It’s like a dense cake that is soft and tender, but encases those gorgeous blueberries and allows you to hold them without falling apart. And lemon zest is baked into the batter which gives them that subtle lemon flavor that enhances the flavor of the blueberries.
And the filling..oh my goodness it’s perfect! It’s a sweet lemon cream cheese frosting that gives these whoopie pies that brings the tart, creamy, sweet flavors together amazingly well!
How To Make Whoopie Pies…
You bake these whoopie pies a lot like you would make any cookie recipe, BUT you make the batter more like you would make a cake.
What I mean is that you cream the butter and the sugars, add the lemon zest, egg, vanilla extract, salt, and baking powder, and then like a cake you add the flour and the liquid in alternating portions.
When you mix the batter of a cake you add in a little flour, then the liquid, in this case buttermilk, then more flour, then more milk and so on, beginning and ending with flour. The reason you do this is to not over-mix the ingredients once the flour has been been added. Over-mixing cake batter creates a dense cake because more gluten is formed with the mixing.
So adding the flour and buttermilk alternately allows the mixture to come together quicker, preventing over-mixing. And that’s the method we use here.
BUT the batter is thicker than a traditional cake batter, making it easy to scoop and drop onto a baking sheet.
What Ingredients Do You Need…
- Butter. I use salted butter, but you can absolutely use unsalted.
- Granulated Sugar
- An egg
- Vanilla extract
- Lemon zest. You’ll need 3 teaspoons which is about the zest of 3 lemons. I find for average sized lemons you get about 1 teaspoon of zest per lemon.
- Kosher salt
- Baking powder
- All purpose flour
- Buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make homemade buttermilk very easily!
- Blueberries. I like to use fresh blueberries, but you can absolutely use frozen, just thaw them out! I like to rinse and pat them dry if using frozen so you don’t add more moisture to the batter.
For the Filling…
- Butter at room temperature
- Cream cheese. This being at room temperature is important so your filling isn’t lumpy.
- Lemon zest
- Powdered sugar
How To Store These Whoopie Pies
Typically you could store whoopie pies at room temperature. Remember how we talked about the Amish husbands lunch boxes earlier? But these Lemon Blueberry Whoopie Pies are a little different because of their cream cheese filling.
So I do recommend you refrigerate these for best freshness, unless you plan on eating them straightaway, and in that case you can leave them at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
Like Lemon Desserts? Here Are A Few More To Try…
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Lemon Blueberry Whoopie Pies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: makes 8 whoopie pies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
Lemon Blueberry Whoopie Pies are soft, cakey sandwich cookies bursting with fresh blueberries, filled with a lemon cream cheese frosting. Summer in a cookie!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
Filling
- 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (2- ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and sugar together for 2 minutes on medium speed until combined and fluffy. Add in the egg, vanilla, lemon zest, salt, and baking powder and mix for 1 more minute until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn mixer to low and add in flour and buttermilk in alternating portions beginning and ending with the flour until just combined.
- Stir in the blueberries.
- Using a medium (2- tablespoon) sized cookie scoop drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet 2- inches apart. Bake for -10 minutes until the cookies are set.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Filling: In the clean bowl of your stand mixer fitted with either the paddle or whisk attachment, mix the butter and cream cheese together on medium speed until smooth. Turn mixer to low and add in the lemon zest and the powdered sugar and mix for 30 seconds. Turn the mixer up to medium and mix until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Spread or pipe 2 tablespoons of the filling onto the bottom-side of half the cookies. Press the remaining cookies on top, creating sandwiches.
Notes
Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 472
- Sugar: 52.7 g
- Sodium: 192.4 mg
- Fat: 21 g
- Carbohydrates: 69.4 g
- Protein: 3.9 g
- Cholesterol: 77.4 mg
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So good!
Really good! Not cloyingly sweet; great lemon flavor; moist. I did add a bit more cream cheese in the filling so it wasn’t too sweet. I will definitely be making these again!
Try chilling your dough before baking. This sometimes helps.
I’ve made this recipe twice now. It’s delicious and a new fave! However my cakes fell flat both times. I’m following the recipe exactly – the only change is I double the recipe. Any ideas as to why they’re not staying up? Next time I’m thinking I’ll add the powder at the same time as the flour. Do you have any other ideas or suggestions? (I call them pancake whoopie pies, but they are phenomenal regardless!) Thanks for sharing!
Try chilling your dough before baking. This sometimes helps.
Try chilling your dough before baking. That sometime works.
Could I use frozen blueberries,without thawing, in this recipe?
I recommend thawing the blueberries because if they’re frozen it will affect the bake time, as the batter won’t be a uniform temperature.
I made these today and they are delicious! Doubled the recipe and it made 22 “sandwiches” using a Medium Size Scoop. I added a touch of Lemon Bakery Emulsion flavoring in the batter and a touch of vanilla to the filling… Will definitely make again! Fantastic! I was wondering about using some lemon juice in the filling but didn’t on this try.
You absolutely could use lemon juice, just a teaspoon or two so you don’t make the filling too thin!
How wide are these once they are baked? Do you think you could make them on the smaller side – almost like a french macaron? Just wondering if they are one or two bites or if they are larger?
They are about 2 1/2 inches when baked. You can make them any size you would like, just adjust the baking time slightly!
looks wonderful!! I have a question– do you ever use lemon extract in place of lemon zest? i never seem to have a fresh lemon when I want to make something like this. But i always have lemon extract in the pantry. thanks!
I don’t, just because I don’t prefer the “flavoring” taste. BUT with that said, if you really want to amp up the lemon flavor you could certainly use extract as well!
My mom mad these over the weekend and they were AWESOME! I thought plain blueberry would be better, but I ended up really loving the lemon in it – was a refreshing and delicious combination! We loved how the blueberries would burst in your mouth with each bite! Definitely a winning recipe! I’m planning to make them for my coworkers this week! YUM! Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed them!! My kids aren’t big lemon fans, and they like these!!